Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Susan Jeffers

American Psychologist, Author of Self-Help Literature and Public Speaker on Fear and Healing Relationships

"There are no mistakes... only opportunities for growth."

"Life is an exciting adventure... There is nothing to fear... I am totally responsible for my happiness."

"We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures."

"We have been taught to believe that negative equals realistic and positive equals unrealistic."

"Feel the fear and do it anyway."

"Aging allows us to drop the baggage. It is only through life experiences that our incredible power can be brought forward in all its glory."

"Acknowledgment of pain is very important, denial is deadly."

"Anything that comes from the higher self is a pathway to love. If it doesn't have love about it then it's not from that place. For example, people talk about love in relationship, but in actual fact, what they're about is control. There's a quote that goes, "never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and it annoys the pig." If we allow someone to be the best of who they can be, that's love. Even if that means giving them the right to pull away from us. The higher self is simply the path of love, acceptance and fearlessness. We've all felt it. You know, when things are going wonderfully, and you're content, you're living in a higher self moment."

"As we open our hearts to others, we begin to discover the truth of our own inner beauty, inner strength and inner light."

"As your awareness of the riches available to you in your everyday life grows, you are on the way to becoming the laughing Buddha. Life is joyous. Life is Light. Life is happy. You are awake at last."

"Bringing a spiritual dimension into all that we do is essential for ending the struggle and dancing with life. Our body and our minds can take us only so far, our spirit can lead us all the way Home."

"An old woman was once asked why she was always smiling. And she replied, "Well, I wear the world just as a loose garment." She didn't take it all too seriously, she don't get hung up in consequences. This book is about giving you trust in yourself, so that life becomes a dance for you, and you can wear it like a loose garment."

"All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when the children grow up, not when we retire... but NOW."

"By learning to trust your intuition, miracles seem to happen. Intuitive thoughts are gifts from the higher self."

"Dancing with life is moving into the flow of our experiences - good or bad - with a feeling of harmony, trust, guidance and love."

"Dear God, I trust that no matter what happens in my life, it is for my highest good. And no matter what happens in the lives of those I love, it is for their highest good. From all things that are put before us all, we shall become stronger and more love."

"Don?t be afraid to talk about your plans, in order to properly investigate, by fear that if it doesn?t work out you will look like a failure. You?re not a failure if you don?t make it, you?re a success because you try."

"Drink in the beauty of friendship. In this world of constant change, we need the comfort of friendship more than ever before."

"Even if your life looks the same on the outside, it really is your own internal peace and growth that determines where you really are."

"Everyone in your life is a 'practice person.' How you react to them allows you to see what you have to work on within yourself."

"Expand your comfort zone, do something that stretches you a little more everyday. Take a risk a day- one small or bold stroke that will make you feel great once you have done it. Even if it doesn?t work out the way you wanted it to, at least you?ve tried. You didn?t sit back?..powerless."

"Given commitments, clear goals and action, it?s just a matter of time."

"Good questions to ask yourself are: what are all the payoffs you get from staying stuck in your life? What are the things you don?t have to face or do?"

"I am finding value in everything that happens to me."

"If the sign on your heart says 'Welcome' the love will come pouring in from everywhere."

"If you are not enjoying yourself, you are wasting time."

"It?s easy to give when you feel abundantly endowed, but you only feel that way when you give, not before!"

"It's about living mindfully, living deeply. We need to take these spiritual tools and put them into all that we do. It doesn't mean going to a cave somewhere and meditating for months. The tools can be brought into our everyday life. I used to hate supermarkets. So I decided I'll use the supermarket to see if I could change my experience of things. First I noticed all the variety there. Then I thought of what went into it all. I thought of farmers, the chickens, the grain, the bakers, the truckers that brought it all to my doorstep. When you start thinking how we take things for granted, it can blow your mind. At last I thought of the source of it all, the sunshine, the rain and the earth, and next thing I'm crying at the miracle of the supermarket. There's a wonderful poem by Emily Dickinson where she says, "as if I asked in common alms, and in my wandering hand a stranger pressed a kingdom and I bewildered stand." Find the kingdom in everything that you do. That's part of the secret with dancing with life."

"Just open the newspaper and you'll see terrible things happening all over the world, like disease, violence or natural disasters. There's so much struggle. I'd like to discuss the difference in the way people handle what happens. Some people handle crisis with a sense of serenity, but most of us battle. People who handle crisis with serenity have mastered the art of dancing with life. Dancing with life is about moving into the flow of all our experiences, good or bad, with the feeling of gratitude, harmony and love. You might say, "I have trouble flowing with the good, how am I going to flow with the bad?" Well, that's really what ending the struggle and dancing with life is all about."

"Listen to the silence... it has much to say."

"My favorite quote in my book is from the Torah which states, "In a world to come, we will be called to account for all the beautiful things that God put on this earth which we refused to enjoy." When I read it I realized that there was so much I'd been given that I had not appreciated. Then I thought, I have just been given permission to enjoy."

"No matter what response you get from anyone you meet, you are a worthwhile person."

"One of the ways to liberate ourselves is to make the ordinary in our life extraordinary. My father lived with the idea that life is a mass of boredom, interjected with a few exquisite moments. I believed him for years, then one day I realized how wrong he was, waiting for those grand splashes of brilliance. Why wait? Why don't we harvest our rewards every day of our lives?"

"One step at a time is enough for me. Impatience is simply a way of beating yourself up."

"Open your eyes, whether you presently believe it or not, your life is already abundant. Before you can accept abundance in your life, you have to notice it."

"Our goal is to enjoy, not to achieve perfection."

"Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the fear which comes from the feeling of helplessness."

"Put signs in your home and office that says IT REALLY DOESN?T MATTER to remind yourself when you are being needlessly obsessive. Also put signs in your home and office that says SO WHAT! I WILL HANDLE IT!"

"Rejection never feels good, but it certainly hurts less when we are not needing something from the person who is rejecting us."

"Remember that underlying our fears is lack of trust in ourselves."

"Security is not having things, it?s handling things."

"Shift from being afraid of making a mistake to being afraid of not making a mistake. If you are not making any mistakes, you are not learning or growing."

"So- lighten up! Whatever happens as a result of your decision, you?ll handle it!"

"Start acting on what it is that you really want in your life, and stop waiting for someone to give it to you."

"Success is... living a full and balanced life in partnership with others to create a joyful feeling of love, contribution, appreciation and abundance, despite how our endeavors may turn out."

"Take a risk a day - one small or bold stroke that will make you feel great once you have done it."

"The Five Truths About Fear: FEAR TRUTH #1 The fear will never go away as long as you continue to grow! Every time you take a step into the unknown, you experience fear. There is no point in saying, "When I am no longer afraid, then I will do it." You'll be waiting for a long time. The fear is part of the package. FEAR TRUTH #2 The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and?do it! When you do it often enough, you will no longer be afraid in that particular situation. You will have faced the unknown and you will have handled it. Then new challenges await you, which certainly add to the excitement in living. FEAR TRUTH #3 The only way to feel better about yourself is to go out and?do it! With each little step you take into unknown territory, a pattern of strength develops. You begin feeling stronger and stronger and stronger. FEAR TRUTH #4 Not only are you afraid when facing the unknown, so is everyone else! This should be a relief. You are not the only one out there feeling fear. Everyone feels fear when taking a step into the unknown. Yes, all those people who have succeeded in doing what they have wanted to do in life have felt the fear - and did it anyway. So can you! FEAR TRUTH #5 Pushing through fear is less frightening than living with the bigger underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness! This is the one truth that some people have difficulty understanding. When you push through the fear, you will feel such a sense of relief as your feeling of helplessness subsides. You will wonder why you did not take action sooner. You will become more and more aware that you can truly handle anything that life hands you."

"The less you need someone's approval, the more you are able to love them."

"The source of our love comes from within. No one out there is that source. It makes sense to go to the source."

"The way you use words has a tremendous impact on the quality of your life. For example, instead of saying: I should/ I could, it is a problem/ it is an opportunity and, if only/ next time."